“It was a royal child!!! A newborn with blonde hair and golden eyes… It was about changing the baby’s hair color.”

As he shouted, Matapju, Sessenia, and Teddy all turned their gaze towards him.

Only Teddy remained indifferent, looking at the man calmly in this situation.

Without caring about the attention directed at him, as if instinctively needing to engrave the story in his ears, Teddy didn’t blink once.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

“Well… that is…”

“You can’t remember because it’s been a long time? Should I help you remember all the memories of the past 20 years at once?”

“I, I received a noble’s request. They gave me a huge sum of money… and told me not to reveal that this child is definitely of noble birth.”

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

“What?”

“The person who said that.”

“He… he was a man.”

“Who is he? Any clues about his name or appearance?”

“I don’t know for sure because he perfectly concealed his face.”

“No way to deduce who that person might be?”

Gulping nervously, Gelroks, who had been shaking his head with little hesitation, looked at Matapju with an uneasy expression, beads of sweat forming.

Saying he didn’t know here would paint a vivid picture of his future.

He might experience the same thing again.

Or something even worse might happen. Just thinking about it was dreadful.

He summoned all his senses to recall that moment.

“Speak about everything. Depending on that, I’ll decide whether to reduce or increase what awaits you in the future. The more direct evidence you provide about the culprit who paid you, the more your crime will decrease, even if just a tiny bit, like ant dung.”

“…Ant dung?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, isn’t it almost no change?”

“No, no. Listen carefully. Whether you become a supplicant begging for death with just a tiny difference like ant dung or face a comfortable death will differ greatly.”

What’s this? It almost sounded like Sessenia was going to say that from her mouth.

“Ah…”

“So, think carefully. In fact, I prefer the former. Just tearing off the head of a human begging for death…”

“I, it’s starting to come back to me! Your infamous reputation, Matapju. No, not that, but the story from 20 years ago…”

“Good. Let’s hear the story then.”

Brushing aside her infamous reputation effortlessly, Matapju looked at him with interest.

“To be honest, I couldn’t recall anything specific. Of course, there were strange things. Many newborns born with hair color or eye colors similar to nobles were sold to the royal family after changing them. I heard about other wizards doing such things. Since we’re in a position where we just have to do the job for money, everyone became indifferent at some point.”

“So?”

“Thus.”
“So, it was extremely peculiar. Anyone could see that the child was of noble birth, yet to hide it… Nevertheless, that man was firm. He even asked the child’s mother to abandon it. Despite knowing that the child was an imperial offspring, Emperor’s child, he asked for it to be discarded.”

Sessenia was worried about Teddy beside her.

Even if she didn’t explicitly mention his story, Teddy would instinctively have noticed.

Even if he hadn’t noticed, hearing this story now might shock him later when he realizes it’s his own.

So, Sessenia tightly held his hand, and Teddy seemed a bit strange.

Knowing it’s his own story, expecting all these situations like someone who foresaw them, he appeared completely unaffected.

Meanwhile, Matapju urged Gelroks again.

“But it’s strange. If it’s such a situation, couldn’t you just abandon the child? Why go to the extent of changing the hair color for a huge sum of money?”

“The mother… the child’s mother intensely disliked the child. She didn’t want to reveal it as an offspring of the royal family, an heir to the Emperor, so she said… that’s why she did it…”

“Did you just accept that after hearing it?”

“Yes…”

“So, is there no way to deduce who the man was? Anything new besides the fact that the mother intensely hated the child and that the child was already born as a royal child?”

Like someone with an obsession, Matapju kept looking for something new, something new.

“That… that… is…”

Looking at the hesitant Gelroks, Matapju shouted joyfully.

“Do you remember anything?”

“That… out of curiosity, I did try to find out about the child afterward…”

“And then?”

“I heard that the child was handed over to the slave market with the words ‘It’s okay to abandon the child.’ Right now, there are few slave markets, but back then, there were many, so I didn’t know exactly where…”

It was a story they already knew.

“Too bad.”

“What? Too bad?”

“I already know everything. That the child grew up in the slave market. In the end, there’s no new information.”

“That… that… isn’t it strange?”

“What’s strange?”

“Why send the child to the slave market rather than an orphanage? Orphanages allow adoption within the empire or abroad, unlike slave markets, so wouldn’t it make more sense to send it there?”